Mark Dearey (Green Party)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Finneran. This debate on this most precious of resources, its management, responsibility for its delivery and environmentally friendly production processes is also welcome. Water flushes and sluices life on a daily basis but this needs to be done in a way that is both efficient and responsible in terms of how water is treated and where it ends up. There is hardly a more important local authority or governmental function than the provision of water, the life source for all of us.

I agree with Senator Norris that there is a great deal of common ground in both the motion and the amendment. The motion calls on the Government to establish a single publicly owned water utility and so on and if Fine Gael Members had pre-empted that by saying the Government should investigate the advantages and disadvantages of doing so compared to the current local authority-led system, we would be on the same pitch. There is not a great deal separating the two outlooks. The Government amendment states we need to investigate the pros and cons of such a move and the strengths and weaknesses of the current system before we arrive at a decision that may result in the establishment of a water utility company. There is a sense in which we can speak to each other in a not particularly adversarial way on this matter.

We should be cautioned by the lessons of the experience in Northern Ireland, where the scale of the problem relative to the number of users was far greater and where the ability of the Northern Ireland Water board, as the unitary authority, to respond to the problem was shambolic, to use the word of senior politicians in Northern Ireland. It highlights the need for an assessment before the establishment of a unitary water utility company. The required skill sets were not on the board. The appointments to the board by the Minister for Regional Development were inadequate, while the chairman was missing in action. The culture appears to be an attitude that it will be all right on the night. We must be mindful of the lessons to be learned from that experience.

On the other hand, although the responses of local authorities were sometimes patchy, local authorities in general felt responsible for the people they knew and were led in their actions by local information from councillors to officials. The officials, in turn, were able to keep local representatives well informed every hour of where freezing was occurring, where tankers would be available, when water supply pressure would be reduced or when water supplies would be turned off and on. Despite what Senator Prendergast said, much of this information was communicated by way of Twitter feeds and local authority websites being kept up to date throughout the Christmas period.

I join the Minister in thanking all the staff of local authorities, and the contractors who were brought in by the local authorities when they found themselves over-stretched, for their herculean efforts over the Christmas. Many of them left their families at a time of the year when the rest of us were able to spend time with ours. It was a remarkable achievement and a testament to the commitment of local authorities to ensuring that their local populations were returned to normality or as near to it as possible. In fact, one day my local county council provided more than 100,000 litres of water to Newry and Mourne District Council, which was probably a cross-Border first. It highlights the contrast in response times and the sense of responsibility taken on either side of the Border.

Those observations are worth making before we rush to embrace the idea of a single utility company. I welcome the concept of an assessment being made, however, and I look forward to its outcome. What I have said is not to preclude the eventual establishment of such a utility, but we must make haste slowly in that regard.

The water services investment programme continues apace, despite the huge pressures on the public finances. It is an indication of the Minister's commitment to providing a reliable, safe and clean water system. Under the 2011 programme a total of €435 million will be invested, with particular emphasis on security of supply for hubs and gateways. This is an example of where planning and service provision are properly aligned, with resources not being dispersed across what is a very extensive rather than intensive network. As the previous speaker said, Ireland has, per head of population, the biggest network in the European Union. I commend that level of investment. It is starting to make up for a long period of under-investment in the production, transport and eventual disposal of potable water.

Engineers Ireland estimates that a 5% replacement rate is necessary throughout the country. However, it is unfair to convey the notion that the network is still primarily a cast pipe system. In many towns the vast bulk of the system is of modern standard, and that investment must continue. Management upstream is obviously most important. Before one starts to put water into new pipes one must control the quantities, flows, pressures and so forth.

While we have many ideas in common, ultimately the Fine Gael motion puts the cart before the horse in terms of establishing the water utility before a proper assessment is carried out as to whether it is the right response to the current situation or whether it would undermine a system that was shown to work quite well over the Christmas period.